'You Won' is the follow-up to NNT's positively- received debut single 'Menolick' which garnered global podcast and blogging kudos (including airplay support from BBC 6Music's Steve Lamacq, various BBC Radio 1 shows and independent radio stations).

'You Won' is a captivating, expansive pop track tooled up for the summer. Inspired by a pub conversation about Chris Marker's 1962 French film classic 'La Jetee', the song was developed during last orders and the walk back to NNT's Edinburgh studio. Recording began the same night with a cameo from an irate neighbour who threatened to call the council Night Noise Team but ended up contributing an ethereal backing vocal.

The band has been together for 2 years and consists of Sean Ormsby from Belfast on vocals and guitar, Fabien Pinardon from Paris on bass, Marco Morelli from Milan on guitar and drummer Mike Walker from Dunfermline. Currently based in Edinburgh, Night Noise Team has been invited to play with Thomas Truax, Mercury-nominated The Invisible and Goldhawks at Glasgow's King Tut's as well as appearing on a compilation of Scottish bands with Meursault and Sparrow and the Workshop.

Night Noise Team's music has been compared to Galaxie 500, Arab Strap, Scissor Sisters, David Bowie and Belle and Sebastian by reviewers from NME, The Skinny, The List and Daily Record amongst others.

'You Won' is an infectious pop confection, a dancefloor anthem with a dark edge.

Monday, 3 May 2010

After seven years of hosting the Home Game event in our home town of Anstruther, Fife, we at Fence Records are proud to announce details of our very first Away Game!

The Away Game will be taking place over the 24th – 26th of September 2010, on the beautifully remote isle of Eigg, located in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.

With a population of just 70 people (plus a lot of sheep, some cows, and a big bastard bull called Dougald), the isle of Eigg has a strong sense of community – and all the islanders have a real thirst for a good party – the ideal location, then, for a Fence Records event!

Hosted by King Creosote and The Pictish Trail, the weekend will feature a bevvy of great music from the Fence Collective and special guests, as well as a chance to explore the island, meet old friends, and make new pals too.

The Pictish Trail:“Our first Away Game is gonna be a proper adventure! We wanted to capture the spirit of Home Game, and take it somewhere a bit bonkers. Since our very first Home Game, people have asked us to put on an Away Game in their hometown … but we’ve been secretly wanting to do something on Eigg for years. The scenery over there is absolutely gobsmacking – and the atmosphere is perfect for a party. I was over on the island recently, and everyone I met there is really excited about meeting you Fencers! I can’t reveal the line-up just yet … but ticketholders are in for a real treat”.

What makes this event different from the Home Game is that ticket holders will have the opportunity to camp, instead of having to fork out for B’n’B’s or other accommodation. So, expect campfire sing-a-longs, and amazing views out to sea.

As this is our first official Fence event of this type, we’re making it extremely limited – selling just 150 camping tickets.

Tickets for The Fence Records’ Away Game will go on sale on Monday 24th May, at 12 noon – on the Fence Records website, www.fencerecords.com .

Tickets are priced at £90.00 each, and are inclusive of camping and arranged ferries to and from the island.

We’re chartering a couple of ferries from the coastal town of Arisaig on Friday afternoon (24th September), and some ferries returning to the mainland on the Sunday afternoon and Monday morning (26th/27th September). There’s a thrice-daily train service between Arisaig and Glasgow Queen Street – and we’ve timed all the ferries so that they synchronise with these.

Music is going to take place on the Friday night, from around 8/9pm, until very late … and then will start again from mid-afternoon until late on the Saturday. The Sunday will be a day to recover/sleep – and there’ll be a ferry to take some folk back home in the afternoon, and another on the Monday morning.

As with most Fence events, we’re not going to reveal the line-up for a wee while yet … but, rest assured, there’ll be a good mix of all your usual Fence Collective favourites … and some very special guests. To give you an idea of the type of music, here’s whom we’ve had play at previous Fence events …

Keep your eyes peeled to the Fence Records site over the next few weeks for more info on the weekend – including travel information, line-up etc. There’s also a thread on our messageboard (the Beef Board), where you can ask questions – you can visit it by clicking HERE.

Sunday, 2 May 2010

Here we are again, May is upon us and I'm almost a year old, if not wiser. As is my wont I shall be providing a show of blatant and unapologetic self-indulgence. It's my birthday tomorrow and I'll play what I want to. Having said that, I shall remain pretty much within the normal musical parameters of my show. You'll hear artists and songs featuring "Paul", "Cat", "Birthday" and "Party", even amongst the usual features. Happy Birthday To Me!

The Legendary Sarah Records band are back!! An exciting announcement coming from Glasgow, home to the enigmatic five piece band The Orchids!

The guys have been busy since their last live performance in New York in summer 2008 writing and recording their fifth studio album. You will hear the results for the first time on a brand new Brighton-based label Pebble Records. The album called “The Lost Star” will be out in July 2010 and is preceded by the release of a single. The bands seventh single, “She’s My Girl” is released on 24th May and this will not disappoint new or existing fans, being a raucous guitar pop song for you to pogo and shout along to. This is backed with two other new songs “The OK Song (Single mix)” and “The Lost Star”. The two additional songs that make up a three song EP have been entirely produced by the band themselves but on the main song, and others on the new album, the band has renewed their relationship with producer Ian Carmichael with spectacular results.

The album is a varied collection of songs more in line with their second album than with the 2007 release “Unholy Soul”“Good To Be A Stranger”. Watch out for the Orchids pop sound you know so well on “Les Spectacles de la Foire” and “Song For A Friend” and try to control your feet when you hear tracks such as “The Way That She Moves”. Meanwhile the cinematic epic guitar sound of “Doot Doot” and beautiful harmonies in the understated “Back To Your House” may surprise some who expect everything to remain the same in the world of The Orchids – which of course it never does! You can also savour one of the best tracks on the album, the breathtaking and atmospheric “Girl To The Soldier” featuring the Cairn String Quartet (who have also worked with fellow Glaswegians Camera Obscura and Twilight Sad).

The album has been recorded and produced by the band’s bass player Ronnie Borland in Busby, Eaglesham and Manchester with final mixing by the aforementioned Ian Carmichael. As with their previous three albums, this one also features the beautiful vocals of Pauline Hynds.

The band has announced some shows to promote the records, returning to play for the second time at the popular English festival “Indie Tracks” on Saturday 24th July and then at Berlin popfest on Saturday 31st July. Look out for live performances to be announced for London and Glasgow. Listen to what they are all about and keep up to date with what happens next in the wonderful world of The Orchids at www.myspace.com/theorchidsuk

“The best Scottish pop band since Orange Juice” – Melody Maker

“A blissful mix of the best Scottish bands of the last few years” – NME

“Eclectic. Every single song is a gem” – Exclaim

“Luxuriant textures, immaculate pop fizz with enviable purpose” – MM

“Songs of emotional wit and sparkling indie pop” – All Music Guide

“Languid and alluring” – Tangents

“Sweetly strummed, swoonily harmonised" – Uncut

“They brought together all the best parts of the 80's Scottish music scene, while adding something that's hard to pin down, yet made them so very special" Exclaim!

Sunday, 25 April 2010

The sun has well and truly got its hat on, as well as the rest of its holiday clothes, and toddled off somewhere else. Still I'll try and bring some musical sunshine in the shape of "Where the action Is". As usual we'll play two rounds of the Connect 3 game, we'll celebrate the birthday of songwriter Michael Brown and this week's foreign language track comes from Gillian Hills. There's also the half-time instrumental, the Trojan Mod Reggae track (still no suggestions for a groovy name for this feature?) and there's Two of a Kind from Nino Tempo and April Stevens. I'll also be playing another track from the brand new Jackie Leven album, "Gothic Road". For the last time we'll feature tracks from the Sunshine Pop edition of the Chartbusters USA series, "The Laurie Records Story" and "Phil's Spectre II: Another Wall of Soundalikes". Here are this week's dishes - tuck in:

If you're in the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, you can tune in on channel 3 on your hospital bedside or on 1287AM on the Medium Wave.

That's it for this week. Next week will be a self-indulgent Birthday special as it's the day before my big day. I'll be playing tracks by artists who have Paul in their name, or songs/artists about cats (because I'm "The Cat") and a few birthday/party tracks. Until then, it's good day and good health.

Sunday, 18 April 2010

It's back to VRN after a week of sunshine in beautiful Strathyre. We'll play two rounds of the Connect 3 game, we'll celebrate the birthday of Manfred Mann multi-instrumentalist Mike Vickers and this week's foreign language track comes from Sandie Shaw. There's also the half-time instrumental, the Trojan Mod Reggae track (any suggestions for a groovy name for this feature?) and there's Two of a Kind from Reparata, with and without the Delrons. We'll also play a track from the brand new Jackie Leven album, "Gothic Road". This month's shows will feature tracks from the Sunshine Pop edition of the Chartbusters USA series, "The Laurie Records Story" and "Phil's Spectre II: Another Wall of Soundalikes". This week's delights:

Sunday, 11 April 2010

After the trauma of the HBA awards and the chocolate-flavoured goings-on of the Easter weekend, it's back to normality and the usual mix of mod, soul, Motown, alternative pop and a veritable cornucopia of classic cuts from the late 50s through to the early 70s. This month's shows will feature tracks from the Sunshine Pop edition of the Chartbusters USA series, The Laurie Records Story and "Phil's Spectre II: Another Wall of Soundalikes". Eyes down for a full house:

Monday, 5 April 2010

The second annual Paul Haig Day is almost upon us (Here's last year's choice). As I'll be back to work tomorrow and won't be able to post until late in the day I'm going to post my selection now, a few hours early.

For those who don't know, Paul Haig Day came about from an idea by JC at the excellent Vinyl Villain blog.

What this means, in English, is that this law is being used to not only remove the "offending" mp3s they consider to be posted illegally but the blogs hosting them aswell. The problem with this is that the DMCA is being used indiscriminantly to target people, including those who either own the songs they're linking to or have permission from those who own the tracks. This also means that America owns the Interweb, but you knew that, right?

Paul Haig has once again kindly given permission for one or more of his tracks to be posted on blogs and this year I've chosen the 12" mix of "The Only Truth", co-produced by Paul Haig, Bernard Sumner (New Order) and Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio).

By all means, download these tracks, that's what it's there for, but if it whets your appetite for more music from Scotland's best kept secret then go to his website and/or Amazon store, which are linked below. Paul Haig's Wikipedia page is pretty comprehensive and you can find out about "The Only Truth" HERE.

"Trip Out the Rider" will also be released as a 7" single later in the year and will feature a very special collaborator.

He Was Such a Quiet Boy by Trips and FallsHello, apologies for the spam once more, but I thought you might be interested in a copy of our latest release: He Was Such a Quiet Boy by Montreal band Trips and Falls. They sent me this last year and I absolutely loved it, but like so many bands, they weren't exactly pushing their own publicity all that hard, so after six months of no-one else really discovering this band I decided fuck it, I would ask if I could release it on Song, by Toad Records.

Fortunately they said yes, and here it is. Chris from the Brothers Grimm did the artwork for the new release, and we hand-pressed three-hundred copies in the house, before sending them back to Montreal for the band's launch party. It's strange, creepy guitar music but it's really compelling. As Chris Buckle wrote in the Skinny: "Their woozy experiments sound like a band that decided to play their instruments backwards and blindfolded – and discovered it worked."

Saturday, 3 April 2010

Due to a family engagement on Easter Sunday, I've already recorded this show for broadcast on that day. I don't particularly like recording them in advance as I prefer the warts-and-all live approach but when needs must, the devil drives. Monday 5 April would have been Joe Meek's 81st birthday and to commemorate the legendary maverick producer, here's a show dedicated to Joe Meek (although the regaulr features have been kept in):

As there are no songs beginning with X and Z, this week was the last in the A to Z of the Beach Boys series and John Holt's "Ali Baba" previews our new weekly Trojan Mod Reggae track, which takes its place. Until next week, when normal (live) service resumes, it's good day and good health.

Thursday, 1 April 2010

Gerry Loves Records is a brand new label based in Edinburgh, releasing vinyl and download singles by their favourite up and coming artists. Their first release is a split single from Conquering Animal Sound and Debutant, released on 5th April 2010.

At Gerry Loves Records we love the intimate feel you get of an artist and their music through vinyl pressings. To us there is nothing quite like buying vinyl - unwrapping it when you get home, carefully taking it out of the sleeve, delicately laying it on your turntable and placing the needle on the record before waiting for that first hiss.

To celebrate our love of all things vinyl and encourage listeners to embrace it, the vinyl version of the single includes not only a free downloads of both tracks but also a second exclusive track from each artist. These extra bonus tracks are only available to download with the vinyl purchase.

Find out more and pre-order the single at http://gerrylovesrecords.com

To launch the label and the single, a mini tour is planned for the beginning of April:

Debutant is one man, a guitar and a voice. Although he writes and sings songs, he’s certainly not a singer-songwriter in the traditional sense. Think dreamy pop songs augmented by textured atmospheric soundscapes. Or something like that.

Having plied his trade in bands, Phillip began writing songs and compositions that didn’t suit the style of the bands he was in. So he purchased a loop pedal and figured he’d do it all himself. He played his first set in April 2008 and has since played with artists such as Glissando, Meursault, Immanu El, Ballboy, Over the Wall, Copy Haho, David Grubbs, Viking Moses, The Pictish Trail, Vessels, Found, The Xcerts and Hugh Cornwell.

Debutant loops and layers guitars, creating shimmering atmospheres over which he adds delicate, breathless and dreamy vocals. The songs are deceptively simple yet affecting. Having relocated to Edinburgh in 2009, 2010 will see Debutant release a full-length album.

"Debutant's music ignores genres altogether, sounding something like what would happen if Mark Kozelek and Kevin Shields had an afternoon, a spare room and a multitude of ideas. Definitely worth checking out live" - isthismusic?

"This is beautiful; four basic home-made lo-fi bedroom recordings – delicate, basic, fractured, dreamy, creamy and very simple. Uncluttered and turning the lo-fi option and the basic equipment on to a warm positive vibrant less is so much more piece of beauty. Four dreamy textured lo-fi pieces/songs" - Organ Magazine: Demo of the Week

"Nostalgic sounds of comfort echo in the best track on this EP of demos, 'Solitude': stunning. The smooth composition drains all worries away, landscapes and the sky become your comforting friends. Yes the guy possesses the voice to do that, comfort you." - Crumbs in the Butter

Conquering Animal Sound is made up of Anneke Kampman and James Scott. A musical project in it’s infancy but one that is filled with much promise and potential. Already making great waves within the musical community of Edinburgh their live show is something of awe-inspiring greatness, creating loops, beats and samples out of anything and everything with Anneke’s sumptuous vocal’s carrying the sounds to what seems like a new world. A debut album is in the works - set to be released via Gizeh Records/Mini50 later in the year. Big things are predicted for the band in 2010.

"Meticulously built up vocal, laptop and electric guitar loops that evolve into spookily charming minimalist incantations." - The List

"Kampman’s gorgeous intone floats telepathically into the tapestry of guitar and loops created by Scott. Recalling the minimalistic dalliances of Scandinavian progressives Múm, CAS are quite unlike anything you’ll hear in Scotland today" - The Scotsman

Hinterland kicks off the festival season for 2010 in Glasgow this Saturday offering six headline acts and more than 20 other live performances for only £15. Full times on stage for all bands are now announced below. Each main venue is hosted by one of our partners so don't miss.....

Radio Magnetic'smain stage at The Arches featuring Joe Goddard, British Sea Power and Mystery Jets. Lucky Me and Ballers host the dance arch with Cooly G headlining, Moshi Moshi's takeover Macsorleys and Gigwise host The Admiral.

Tigerfest has announced its lineup for May 2010. It’s another top-notch collection of acts combining some of Scotland’s top talent, with established names and future stars alongside some appearances from favourites from far and wide.

The mini-festival, which runs for three weeks, takes in shows in Dunfermline, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, running in conjunction with its affiliates Baby Tiger, the Carnegie Hall, Interesting Music Promotions, and online/media partner is this music?

There’s also a clutch of co-promotions with partners such as Electric Circus and the Cabaret Voltaire, plus the Fence and 17seconds labels.

Highlights:

Dunfermline:

Malcolm Middleton - one-off show as the former Arab Strap man interrupts his hiatus of recording and writing. Joined by Spare Snare, Dundonian lo-fi legends.

King Creosote - currently embarking on a one-man tour of England, this exclusive Scottish leg also includes Fence labelmate Rozi Plain and Edinburgh’s upcoming star Withered Hand.

Also, part of ‘Celebrating Fife 2010' - a triple bill of Ambulances, Vertis and Crayons, three of Scotland’s most promising acts, and all from the Kingdom.

Aberdeen:

Special one-off gig sees The Unwinding Hours - former Aereogramme members and perhaps already makers of Scottish album of the year - perform, with support from Katerwaul.

Edinburgh

This year the focus is on the capital with a total of seven shows and 20 acts performing during the first two weeks of May. Top of the bill is hard to say - with indie legend Martin Stephenson, reformed 80s act TV21, and the best in new talent including There Will Be Fireworks, Jesus H. Foxx, X-Lion Tamer, The Gothenburg Address and Chris Bradley.

Briefing and background:

Tigerfest has run since 2004 as a regular independent festival of new music. Originated in Edinburgh by promoter Baby Tiger, it expanded to feature showpiece gigs in Dunfermline and take in towns and cities across Scotland. It has seen bands such as Idlewild, King Creosote, Emma Pollock, Malcolm Middleton, Half Man Half Biscuit, Nouvelle Vague and Camera Obscura perform as well as promoting early gigs by KT Tunstall and We Were Promised Jetpacks, and giving acts such as Frightened Rabbit and Dananananaykroyd headline shows.

Next week it'll be my pre-recorded Joe Meek special, as I celebrate Easter Sunday with my family. Congratulations to my VRN colleague John Murray who was awarded The John Witney Award for his outstanding contribution to hospital radio at the National Hospital Radio Awards - well done, John! Although I didn't appreciate him charging a bottle of wine to my room!! Sadly, I left empty-handed in my category, as did all our other nominees. Just call us the Shawshank Redemption of the HBA! Until next week, it's good day and good health.

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

THE SCENE: – A large meeting at Cooking Vinyl (CV) to discuss GOTHIC ROAD – JACKIE LEVEN’S first new studio album since 2008’s LOVERS AT THE GUN CLUB.

STUART (new CV label manager, his first meeting with JL) – “Er, can I start by asking Jackie what the album title, GOTHIC ROAD actually means, if anything?”

JACKIE – “Well, we all walk two roads – the Royal Road, and the Road of Poverty and Death, however we imagine these roads to be. When these two roads meet, then we are walking on the GOTHIC ROAD.”

STUART (doubtfully) – “Does it make any difference which direction you walk on the GOTHIC ROAD?”

JACKIE – “None at all”.

STUART (still doubtfully) – “Is this all true?”

MARTIN GOLDSCHMIDT (CV supremo, without looking up from doodling) – “It is now …”

GOTHIC ROAD opens with the choral sound of GHOST VOICES OF THE KURSK – three young Russian men from the northern seaboard city of Murmansk, all of whose brothers died in that Russian submarine tragedy. This is closely followed by the sound of a German sat nav lady guiding JACKIE’s tour bus out of the city of Hamburg last year. And so the stage is set for twelve strong tales from the GOTHIC ROAD – powerful stories from one who has walked the road for nearly sixty years.

Many of the songs are at once mystical but also locked in the daily grind of emotional survival. In keeping with his longstanding creative association with mavericks and outlaws, (David Thomas, Johnny Dowd etc) JACKIE collaborates here with fabled English renegade RALPH McTELL. RALPH supplies the yearning second lead vocal, plus Gibson acoustic guitars on CORNELIUS WHALEN, a song about the man who was the last of the Jarrow marchers left alive when JACKIE wrote the song – the Jarrow March** being a superb example of the reality of the GOTHIC ROAD.

Elsewhere on the album, JACKIE fantasises about the creative dynamo that is actress TILDA SWINTON, hides in his hotel mini bar from the tyranny of endless touring, sings a song written by the original punk poet PATRIK FITZGERALD, (SHADOW OF A MAN) and welcomes on board a guest recording by his co-producer, the great Welsh singer DAVID WRENCH (ISLAND).

The album abounds with GOTHIC ROAD-ness, as in the coda of the song GOTHIC ROAD itself, where the royal road pomp of HENRY PRIESTMAN’s massed plucked cellos is counter-pointed by JOHN ROBERT’S skeletal spoons playing, casting a cold eye on the poverty-stricken end of the street. Or in the lush celestial choir voices on LAST OF THE BADMEN as the anti hero at the end of his personal road pleads in a PARTON-esque refrain – ‘please don’t kill me just because you can’.

The music on GOTHIC ROAD provides cast iron proof that the creative phenomenon that is JACKIE LEVEN is not simply continuing to go from strength to strength, but is close to passing out of sight on a road that others fear to tread.

Sunday, 21 March 2010

We continue to tuck into the psychedelic feast that is the "Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970" box set and we commemorate the passings of Lesley Duncan and Alex Chilton, as well as the regular features:

Next week it'll be business as usual after I return from the National Hospital Radio Awards in Erskine. The Cat has his paws well and truly crossed for his nomination in the Best Specialist Music category. Until next week, and the last of our San Francisco sounds, it's good day and good health.

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

You will all be aware of the trials and tribulations of the music industry and record shops in particular. Avalanche is not immune and it is clear things can not continue as they are. Since Christmas many titles have been available to the public not only online but on the high street at prices substantially less than as an independent we would pay ourselves. The avoidance of VAT by online sellers based in the Channel Islands is well documented and with many students now without a local record shop they arrive in Edinburgh already used to buying their music online. Many of course don’t buy their music at all and acquire it for free via the many channels that are now available.

The healthy local music scene means we do well selling local and Scottish bands’ music to visitors to the shop from all over the world and we have recently set up a website catering for the many customers who are so happy with what we have recommended that they want to buy more. However even these sales are continually eroded as bands and labels do all they can to sell directly to the public. We completely appreciate the bands’ viewpoint on this in trying to make money for themselves but myspaces etc regularly encourage people to visit Amazon, iTunes etc without any mention of the shops that are supporting and stocking their releases. An oversight I am sure but while shops are relegated to an afterthought they will struggle.

We don’t want to go down the line of saying we will close just to drum up support. I very much concur with the press conference recently given by ear x-Tacy available on You Tube in two parts. Based in Louisville, Kentucky this is a world wide problem. I want this to be a positive statement about how we move things forward. We have always wanted to sell more tickets and we have contacted all the promoters and venues that for a variety of reasons have declined to give us tickets before. We have already had some positive responses. We are open to any sensible ideas about what the way forward is. We could use the back of the shop for something else but please don’t suggest coffee and cakes. We could move to a smaller shop or become part of another store. Avalanche will continue as long as it wanted by the local community it serves but we can not continue to maintain a high street presence simply to promote Scottish bands and their music to the many visitors to Edinburgh much as this is a very enjoyable part of working in the shop.

You can leave any thoughts or comments on our facebook or myspace pages or there is a dedicated email address of avalancherecords@hotmail.co.uk. We do already sell on various platforms online but margins are very low and our heart is really in the shop so that is where we would like to concentrate our endeavours. Our album club has been very successful and that will of course continue. We have already had music related offers that might help boost revenue and we are interested in listening to any other offers we feel fit in with the Avalanche ethos.

Most of all we would like to thank all our customers for the continuing support that has kept us going here when so many have already fallen by the wayside.